TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — The Lincoln boys basketball team begins their journey to a state title on Thursday night, and leading into their first game of the postseason, senior Bryce Cummings has a lot he can point to as motivation.
The Trojans lost last year in the regional finals on a last season shot, and this season, they were upset in the district semifinals.
"I just remember the drop, the drop of your heart, like that's it," said Cummings of those losses.
He said those are games that he doesn't want to forget.
"It's a very high sense of urgency. This year, we want to make it as far as possible."
"I think three of the last five years, we've lost to go to state or in the sweet sixteen or elite eight in the last possession," added head coach Matt Anderson. "It's certainly something we need to reiterate and we know is important."
The Trojans are leaning on Cummings to lead them.
"He's one of our leading rebounders, one of our top two," said Anderson. "He's one of our leading scorers. He's our most athletic young man that we have."
Now Cummings is looking to lead this team to Lakeland and the state final four.
"We believe in ourselves and I think that's the number one key."
As talented as he is on the court, Cummings is also is on top of his game in the classroom. He has a 4.4 GPA.
"It's very challenging, I will say that," he laughed. "You see yourself and you can to be the best you, no matter what. That's my number one goal, be the best you. It may be challenging at times, but always tell yourself to keep going ."
"He's a quiet leader, but he's becoming more vocal," said Anderson. "Very determined young man, and he's starting to bring that out more and more. Hopefully he has about five more games where he can continue to grow in that respect."
More games for Cummings and for a Trojan team determined to finish this season on top.
"Blood, tears, sweat. Leave it all out there."
Cummings said he wants to play basketball in college, and he wants to study engineering.
